Cheats and Walkthroughs

Pretty soon, we'll all have access to a new BioWare RPG. Dragon Age: Origins is shaping up to be BioWare's most full-featured RPG of this generation, with downloadable content being planned from the very beginning. In fact, as part of an announcement detailing the Dragon Age: Origins Collector's Edition and certain pre-order bonuses, BioWare revealed the first downloadable content for the game.

Dragon Age: Origins Collector's Edition will retail for $74.99 on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, but only $64.99 on the PC. The Collector's Edition contains quite a bit, including -- take a deep breath -- a steel case, a cloth map of Dragon Age's world, a documentary DVD, the soundtrack, a game trailers, wallpapers, strategy tips and a concept art video.

The Stone Prisoner, bundled with all "new" copies of Dragon Age: Origins (I'm waiting further details on this from BioWare), gives players exclusive access to a new character, a stone golem named Shale. In addition to having the ability to eventually become one of the most powerful characters in the game, Shale comes with "own personal back-story and unique quests for the player to discover," according to BioWare. The Stone Prisoner can be purchased separately, presumably for used copies of the game, for $15.

There are more incentives to purchase new, as well. "New" copies of the game will also include codes to download a set of Blood Dragon Armor that's compatible with both Dragon Age: Origins and the upcoming Mass Effect 2.

And in the world of pre-orders, BioWare is offering the Memory Band through EA's online store, an in-game item that can be equipped early on to provide +1% to all experience gained and an additional, free-of-charge bonus point to add to your character's skill set. Other retailers will have other in-game items to offer for pre-orders.

Dragon Age: Origins drops on November 6 on Xbox 360 and PC. The PlayStation 3 version is coming later in November. As soon as I have more details on how the game is handling the distinction between "new" and "used" games, I'll pass it on.